Cougar gives Jake a dubious look. He really doubts the red salt would've killed Jake, but then, he also has a bad habit of getting very hyperbolic about the things happening to him, so maybe he would have worked himself into a frenzy where he did think that he was going to die.

It is Jake. Stranger things have happened. "Owe what?" he prods, because he's curious what Jake might offer him in exchange for saving his life. This could be good.